Summer 2008

Contemporary Guitar Making
August 4 - 8
(space available)

Hands-On Guitar Making
(Steel String)
August 18 - 30
(full)

ASL has resumed offering each of our two courses four times per year.  With the increase in sessions, we are no longer maintaining waiting lists. Please check back here periodically for schedule updates, and please keep in mind that we typically do not set course dates more than 3-4 months prior to each class.   Thank you for your interest in ASL.                                 Charles and Denise Fox   Our Portland, Oregon workshop offers expert lecture/demonstration and hands-on lutherie training for small groups of students at all levels. Five day seminar CONTEMPORARY GUITAR MAKING is a unique five day seminar focused on the principles, directions and techniques that define the practice of modern professional lutherie.  If you attend only one guitar making class this year,  CONTEMPORARY GUITAR MAKING will have the greatest possible impact on the future of your work - whether you are an experienced luthier or are just beginning in the craft.  See Course Description for details.           Two week workshop HANDS-ON GUITAR MAKING is an intensive two week  hands-on workshop, your opportunity to learn the methods and techniques used by today's most creative and successful luthiers.   HANDS-ON GUITAR MAKING provides the perfect setting to do your best work and your best learning while constructing your own fine quality guitar.   See Course Description for details.   A FEW FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: Five day seminar or two week workshop? The CONTEMPORARY GUITAR MAKING seminar and the HANDS-ON GUITAR MAKING workshop together make up the ASL Core Program.  The five-day seminar imparts the intellectual framework of the craft through lecture, demonstration and lively dialogue.  The two-week workshop teaches the practical manual aspects of the craft through the step-by-step building of an instrument.  The two classes are complementary, with no overlap. We are happy to discuss the program with you personally and help determine the right course for you. Will I be 'certified' after studying at ASL'? Lutherie is not a trade governed by a certifying association, and ASL's intensive short-term courses should not be confused with vocational training.  Your time here will contribute hugely to the future of your work, and upon request we're happy to provide a letter of attendance/completion for your course time here, but it would be irresponsible to suggest that having attended a course here you will have become a 'luthier ' and that your employment prospects will soar.  Except for a limited number of modest-paying factory workers, the vast majority of folks in this craft are individual luthiers who either build instruments on their own and sell them after establishing a market for their work, or simply build for their own pleasure and satisfaction. Do you offer financial aid, GI Bill approval, etc?. ASL is a small private school with neither a financial aid program nor the accreditation necessary to meet the requirements of most government programs.  On occasion, we have been approved by agencies in states without local guitar making programs. Can you send me a brochure?: Sorry, we do not have printed materials to mail.  All available information on classes, schedules and registration is posted on our website.  What about travel and accommodations? Portland (airport code PDX) is a wonderful city with great public transportation and a wide range of accommodations in every category.  There is a Shilo Inn less than a mile from our workshop, where a special ASL room rate is $69 per night, including breakfast.

  Some highlights of past ASL training
  programs -
                                                               
                                                                   Master class
                                    BUILDING AN ARCHTOP GUITAR
                                                        with John Monteleone
    


 
  Two-month Hands-on
  IN-DEPTH GUITAR
  CONSTRUCTION
  AND DESIGN  
  with ASL staff                    



                                                 
                                                Master class
 BUILDING A MODERN CLASSICAL GUITAR
                                            with Greg Byers